The Other Side of Autosave

I started using Google Keep a few months ago. Google Keep is essentially a note taking app that can record notes, messages, reminders, checklists, etc. in a variety of methods. It’s also flexible enough to handle photos and other types of data imports. It integrates with other Google apps (Drive, calendar, etc.), which I also use, and across devices. I thought it would be pretty amazing, but the organization methods are a bit too basic for my needs. And then I got burned by Google Keep last week.

I was using Google Keep to record a unique 25-character passcode on a note with similar types of information. I realized I didn’t need the passcode and deleted it. The delete key went too fast and wiped out 95% of my note in about 2-3 seconds. Then I saw Google Keep autosave the “changes” with no option to reject, unsave, undo, or restore a previous version. The irony of The Deletist being out deleted by an app named Keep!

The whole experience made me keenly aware of how different my smartphone keyboard is from a laptop, or desktop, one. Had I been using Google Keep from my laptop, I could have easily undone the accidental deletions with ctrl+Z, or by right-clicking the mouse. Or I might have been able to restore the document from an earlier auto-saved version.

And then I started to feel really irritated by the instant auto-save feature. I’ve definitely lost work when it wasn’t saved and something happened to the computer or network. But to me the solution was never to autosave every keystroke. I like having the document temporarily autosaved in the background for restoration purposes, but only if it doesn’t cause the app to slow down. But I also prefer to consciously decide when I want to save, or not save, changes. Why can’t Google Keep have an option for me to choose when I want to save something? Why can’t I have the option of closing the document without saving changes?

As for the note… I did a few Google searches and found similar stories. A couple people had accidentally replaced their notes with a single letter while trying to copy and paste them. I still haven’t found a way to restore the information, other than by recreating it. Fortunately only 2 things got deleted and I can replace them with minimal effort.

Deletist,
You should write Google and tell them about your experience. Also put in suggestions of what features that would make google keep better. Though I haven’t had your experience, I have had my own mishaps with Google keep. I started using Google Keep at work and on my Android phone. I’m a big fan of google products but i’m the first to say when the google app is limited. And Google Keep isn’t doing it for me. I am totally a Mac guy now but I’m big on cross platform Products. And I like some of the apps to have a web presence. As I was saying, I used Google keep at work to copy links or notes or anything that I found useful throughout the day. I forgot what it was trying to do, but I was trying to do something with one of the Google Keep notes and I couldn’t do it. Also i did find Google Keep limited. I wanted a notes app that acted like a word processing program and as many of those features as possible. I found the app it’s called Notability. I now have notability on my Mac iPhone and iPad. The only draw back is it doesn’t have the Web capability I like. But it does everything else I wanted. I do have to say Evernote is pretty good but i don’t want to pay a subscription for it. There are programs that will give you the flexibility and features you want. And many are cross platform also, you just have to look. Good luck.

Hi James,
Great insights! I feel very similar to you. I’m also a huge fan of Google, but a Mac user with a strong preference for cross platform products. We should start our own business! Anyway, I know exactly what you mean about the other limitations of Google Keep. It is frustrating that the word processing capabilities are so limited. I also find the Keep notes hard to organize.
I used to use Notability. I can’t remember why I stopped now, but I really enjoyed it. I also tried Evernote, but never officially “moved” in. *Sigh* Even with so many options, it’s so hard to find one product that I can customize to my own specific needs.